Radha Chakravarty is an academic, translator, critic and creative writer. Subliminal Poems, her debut collection of poetry traces the artistic journey of Chakravarty revealing her mastery of different forms of poetry. The collection captures the phases and facets of the poet inviting the readers into her world. “Infused with our inner longings, memories, fears, and anxieties, familiar things appear in a different light”. Her poems, far from being abstract designs, pulse with the life of poetic sensibilities. The title is intriguing and interesting—the poet is nudged at the blurring thin line between reality and appearance. Perhaps there is a Shakespearean trace of “Fair is Foul and Foul is Fear” – appearance versus reality is a fundamental theme explored in the collection. It delves into the dichotomy between how things appear on the surface and their underlying truth or essence. In the titular poem “Subliminal” Chakravarty writes, “With invisible hypnotic force,/ like the Pied Piper’s magic flute,/ they draw us to the glittering river’s edge/ where illusion beckons and lures us in,/ until, entranced, we take the plunge/ and drown in the depths our own desire.”

“Designs in Kantha”, “In Search of Shantiniketan”, “The Casket of Secret Stories” and “The Homecoming” portray a Bengali bhadramahila with a delicate balance of reverence and satire. The women draped in saris with a “paaner bata—bell metal casket/ that once held grandmother’s gossip, spicy/ rumours of desire, heartbreak, longing, loss,/ rolled in lime-seared paan, betel leaf/ flavoured with supuri, lavanga, elaach, and sometimes a dash of dokta” inhabit a world that straddles domesticity and nature. She talks about the water’s grace–rivers –women as rivers in “Where Rivers Meet” and “River/ Woman” These poems extoll the river’s mythology, sacred aura and cultural significance by etching out a rich imagery of riverine moods and movements—“I am the river/ Woman/ Whose body bears the pain/ of generations, borne along by currents/ of what they call history. In my depths the real story flows, submerged. / /In my cry, the river’s roar, a million voices merge”.

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“Hate”, “Borderlines” and “Refugee” are based on the themes of displacement, loss, trauma and violence arising due to the partition and bear a testimony to the gruesome past, also offer a subjective response to the horrific episode, capture the ‘personal side’ of history and thus offer an ‘alternative history’ of history—“She left home and hearth/ in search of a new home/ in an alien land,/ carrying, knotted/ in a corner of her sari,/ her anxiety, fear, hope,/ a welter of memories/ and a single coin,/ her savings from a now lost life”. The verses reflect the era’s understated elegance and cultural authenticity. In poems like “The Severed Tongue”, “That Girl”, and “Ahalya’s Awakening”, Chakravarty turns to myths, traditions and her verses become an object of projection and justify a retelling of the classic—“For her severed tongue bled and bled,/ and the blood spread, sweeping/ others into the flood, and/ the torrent of voices swelled, becoming/ a rising tide of women, speaking, speaking, speaking out,/ in many tongues”. Here, Chakravarty uses poetry to illustrate societal wrongs and poetry’s unique qualities shine through.

She remembers those days when our lives began and ended with the sirens of the ambulances and we lost count of the bodies that hit the crematorium/ graveyards “Pandemic in Delhi”, “Another Exodus, 2020”, “Searchlight”, “Message in a Bottle”, “The Key” and “Bubbles”, capture the deadly disease with all its manifestations. Another interesting feature of the collection under review is that Chakravarty writes about several fruits like ‘the apple’, ‘mango’, ‘tangerine’, ‘guava’, ‘pineapple’ and ‘coconut’ which trigger memories and many more things that are going on earth. Fruit poems are often used as a rich metaphorical ploy, symbolising various aspects of life, love, temptation and even mortality. Juicy and vibrant, fruits evoke sensory experiences and carry layers of meaning. They can represent the sweetness of love or the tang of desire, the ripe abundance of life, or the fleeting nature of time. In her poetry, fruits become effective symbols, each variety imbued with its significance. ‘Apples’ might stand for knowledge and temptation, while ‘mangoes’ could signify abundance and indulgence. The poetic use of fruit goes beyond its physicality, reconnoitring human emotions and experiences.

The poet here has experimented with some forms of poetry like—Fibonacci, Skinny, etc. This exploration or experimentation means there is a connection; it doesn’t mean uprooting or leaving one’s foundation—that departure Chakravarty carries forward a legacy that is unique and true to poetry.

The reviewer is associate professor of English, Tarakeswar Degree College, University of Burdwan

Spotlight

Subliminal Poems

By Radha Chakravarty

Hawakal Publishers, 2023

108 pages, Rs 500/-